Value Creation

The Anatomy of an Irresistible Offer

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The moment I saw it…

I knew I had to have it.

And I wasn’t the only one. (We’ll talk more about that in a minute.)

This instant obsession makes for a good case study of what it really means to create an irresistible offer.

Because…

1) a lot of entrepreneurs aren’t sure how to make a compelling offer

and

2) there’s a lot of information about offer-making out there that’s flat-out wrong.

Most of the bad information I’ve seen is bad because it places too much emphasis on “value stacking.”

Adding bonus on top of bonus…

Slashing prices…

Creating free Facebook groups for buyers to hang out with like-minded folks.

Don’t get me wrong. There’s nothing wrong with piling on value. And there’s nothing wrong with bonuses or FB groups.

But people do not buy because of value. Not in the traditional sense.

They buy because of DESIRE.

So an irresistible offer should be driven by “desire stacking.”

Which brings me back the offer I mentioned at the beginning of this email.

One of the most attractive, no-brainer offers I’ve ever seen.

A chance to rent out the mansion from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

You may have seen this. Airbnb posted the link about a week ago, and Will Smith gave a video tour on YouTube on Monday.

When you see this, what’s your instant reaction?

For me — and countless people like me — the response is…

1st: WHERE DO I SIGN UP?

2nd: Please, God. Let me get a spot before they’re sold out.

I did not wonder how much it costs (and I definitely didn’t try to compare price vs. other lodging in the area).

Flying cross-country in a pandemic didn’t dampen my excitement.

If I could have grabbed a spot, nothing would have stopped me from booking a night.

Of course, different people have different responses. But for the right people, this offer is totally irresistible.

And the core reasons the Fresh Prince mansion is a no-brainer… are the same reasons behind most offers that are too sweet to ignore.

Let’s quickly break down 4 of them.

1. Status

Your offer should raise your prospect’s status — in his own eyes or the eyes of others.

When he says “yes,” what does he get that instantly makes him feel better about himself… like he’s just jumped to the next level (or at least finally discovered the elevator)?

How will he look to his (future) wife? His kids? His golf buddies. His competitors?

What will he have that others WISH they had?

A few bonus ebooks ain’t gonna get it.

2. Story Factor

Does buying from you give the customer an exciting, envy-inducing story to share at his next dinner party or networking event?

Does it change the story he tells himself about himself?

Or the story his parents tell to brag to their friends about their son?

Does it give him content that will get tons of likes on social media?

You might be shocked how much people will spend or suffer through to have a good story to share.

Think of all the great stories you could tell after staying at the Bel-Air mansion! And unlike a lot of business stories, you can share this one with just about everyone.

3. (Aspirational) Identity

Every conscious decision we make is influenced by the way they see ourselves and our place in the world.

If your offer connects to your should-be buyer’s identity in a unique way…

Helps him express externally how he sees himself internally…

Or moves him closer to being the person he wishes he was, letting Clark Kent be Superman, as it were…

It taps the deep-rooted desire.

How can your offer link your buyer to that identity?

4. Exclusivity

You don’t have to convince anyone there’s a limited amount of nights to book a stay in a mansion.

And you don’t have to convince anyone there’s high demand for the available slots.

But only about 365 people will have the privilege of securing one in the next year — if Airbnb keeps it open that long.

That kind of exclusivity and scarcity amplifies desire that’s hard to replicate in any other way — as long as you’re offering something people want in the first place.

It multiplies the status and story factor. Being part of such a small group boosts the impact to identity.

Leveraging exclusivity makes your offer significantly harder to resist. Use it to your advantage.

So there you have it.

When you’re thinking about how to make your offer as compelling as possible, remember…

Put value on the back burner. It’s all about stacking desire.

***UPDATE***

When I sent this article out as an

I sent my broadcast email newsletter earlier this week, I tested two very different subject lines.

One promises a valuable lesson about a topic I hear a lot of questions about…

The other seems to offer a voyeuristic peek into the lifestyles of the rich and famous.

I have to admit, the split test results surprised me:

surprising email subject line split test results

If you’ve read my emails before, you may assume the mansion I promise a tour of is my own home.

(That’s kinda deceptive, but not maliciously so).

After the first hour, the voyeuristic subject line was opened TWICE as many times as the benefit subject line. Honestly, I thought the “Anatomy” subject line would win.And I definitely didn’t think either version would double the open rate of the other. There are a few takeaways here:

  1. TEST. You really never know what will work until you get it out to the market
  2. I’ve said it a thousand times, but must have forgot when I sent this test..

    Sometimes entertainment is the most valuable benefit you can provide. That subject line brought MTV Cribs to my readers’ inbox.

    If you want to keep your open rates from dropping over time, entertainment value is practically nonnegotiable.
  3. People really do want to go behind-the-scenes, especially if your business has a personality component. They’re curious about the non-business stuff going on with you and others in your industry.

One of the top copy rules is that the copy must be about the reader. And while the “mansion” subject line doesn’t seem to be about the reader, it really is. It’s providing something they want: entertainment… escape… scratching the curiosity itch… aspiration… connection.

How to Earn All the Twitter Followers You Deserve

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Last time I Googled “how to get more Twitter followers,” 579,000,000 results came up. This is clearly a topic on many people’s minds.

First, a question: Would you rather have thousands of followers who never interact with you or your content, or 100 raving fans who retweet regularly and click all your links? Do you value quantity over quality?

All things being equal, bigger is better. But the point is that the size of your audience isn’t the only factor you should be concerned about developing.

Real Life Matters
Your personality outside of Twitter has a huge impact on the size and type of following you attract. Just ask Tim Tebow or Ashton Kutcher. Celebrities get massive numbers of followers instantly because of who they are, even when they break all the “rules” of Twitter etiquette.

I believe the foundation of creating the audience you deserve is actually being someone worth following. Do you have something valuable to share? Do you offer unique perspective to the people reading your tweets? Are you actively brightening their day in some way? If not, you probably won’t attract or keep the kinds of followers you want.

Now you have to let the world know what you can do.

Get the Bio Right
They say you only get one chance to make a first impression. In many cases, your profile picture and 160-character bio will determine what potential followers will think of you. It can make the difference between gaining attention and getting ignored.

You’ve experienced it yourself; when you see a profile that doesn’t have a photo, you second-guess whether it’s even a real person. With all the fake accounts, spammers and bots, you never know.

Beyond that, you have a few lines to tell everyone who you are, what you’re about and what they can expect when they click the Follow button.

If you have a website, blog, portfolio, etc., you should always include a link. That let’s you demonstrate how awesome you are without the character limitation. You can link to a free valuable resource to get followers to start consuming your content right away.

There’s an App for that
Your profile and your tweets should always be appropriate, appealing and applicable.

Appropriate: Know who your audience is and who you’d like to be in it. Share content appropriate for that audience. It wouldn’t do much good for Nike to share a video about pulled pork sandwiches.

Appealing: On the other hand, Nike’s followers want to know about sports, sports gear and health/wellness issues. What does your audience care about? What are they worried or excited about right now. Tweeting on those subjects, adding your expertise and sharing resources are powerful ways to you grow and nurture loyal, attentive followers.

Applicable: As much as possible, members of your Twitter community should be able to do something with the content you share. They can open hilarious videos that make them LOL. They can click links to help them fix them save on car insurance. Or they can see the world through your eyes for just a minute.

For the most part, no one wants to know all the intimate details of your daily routine. Tweet stuff that matters to your followers.

Are You Talking About Yourself…Again?
Some how-to articles tell you how often to send out different kinds of tweets. What percentage should be links? What tweet/retweet ratio should you use?

I don’t know if any of these figures can be proven to work better in every instance.

You’ll probably agree that high-quality content is always welcome. Good jokes go over well, no matter what percentage of your tweets they comprise.

If you create content for the purpose of educating, entertaining or otherwise improving your follower’s day or life, why hold back? You could probably get away with 100% of your tweets being links to your website.

That being said, interacting with your followers and your colleagues is usually a really smart thing to do. Everyone likes @mentions. Replies and retweets can only strengthen the bonds you have.

Developing a great Twitter following is less about learning techniques than most social media gurus would like you to think.

For example, a widely-taught tactic for growing a big audience is to follow people who you’d like to follow you, then unfollow the ones that don’t. Sure, you will get about half of those individuals to follow back, but think about it: you don’t follow them because you care about their tweets. You just want them to read and respond to yours.

If everyone on Twitter followed all the people they wanted to sell to but had no interest in listening to, what would that look like? It would be horrible. Everyone talking, no one listening. That’s not what social media is supposed to be about.

Naturally, knowing how to operate in any environment (online or off) is important. But if you don’t start with value creation, you’re neglecting human nature. People exchange their time for things that are more valuable to them than other things they could be spending their time doing.

Become a reliable source for those kinds of things and you’re on the right path to growing your ideal audience.